Thursday, December 19, 2013

Christmas Coda 22

“Mirror, mirror on
the wall,” Luke said, enunciating around his toothbrush. He wore a large yellow
bath towel slung fetchingly around his lean hips, and a dab of shaving cream
under his right ear.

I drew back from
the long mirror over the bathroom counter and the double sinks. “I was trying
to think if I should shave or not.”

“Why would you
want to shave?”

“I don’t know.” I
frowned at my reflection. “I look okay, right?”

“You’re asking for
an objective opinion? I’m kind of partial to your looks.”

“Okay. Good.”

He grinned at me
and toothpaste spilled out of his mouth. I laughed. Luke laughed too, rinsed,
spat, patted his face with a plushy yellow towel. He straightened, still smiling
but serious when he said, “You know, we don’t have to go to this thing
tonight.”

“Yeah, we do. It’s
New Year’s. Karen will be disappointed if we don’t show up.”

“She’s going to
have a houseful of people. She won’t notice if we’re not there.”

“Hey. I’d like to
think that’s not true.”

“You know what I
mean.”

I did, yeah. And I
appreciated that he was, as usual, looking out for me. We’d been together since
May. Well, not immediately together
together because it had taken Luke a month to leave his job and put his place
on the market, but even when we were apart I felt like we were together. It was
a first to feel so secure. To know that whatever came at us, we’d be facing it
together. I still found that sort of amazing.

“You know what?”

His reflection
slanted hazel eyes my way in inquiry.

“I’m looking
forward to tonight.”

“Are you?” He
looked surprised, and no wonder. For the first two years of my sobriety I’d
been afraid to go anywhere, do anything that might put me in proximity with
alcohol. Hell, coffee with friends had seemed perilous. Not that I’d had so
many friends back then.

“I am. I’m not
even sure why exactly. I’m looking forward to the new year. And I like the idea
of celebrating with friends. I know for sure I’m not going to drink. Plus I’ll
have someone to talk to all night. The best looking guy there.”

“That’s funny,”
Luke said. “I was thinking the same thing.”

“That you’re going
to be the best looking guy there tonight?” I teased, squeezing past him on my
way to the bedroom.

He reached back
and caught my arm, pulling me back against him. He was smiling as he pressed a
Crest-flavored kiss against my mouth. I smiled a kiss back, reached down and
unfastened the towel at his waist.

44 comments:

They won't be going anywhere if they start tugging towels off. We all know what that leads to!It's good to have a certain someone that you feel safe and secure with. I'm glad that Tim and Luke have each other. <3

I didn't expect this one so soon after TPG. What a sweet surprise! Your vulnerable characters, like Tim, and Dan yesterday, are always beautifully drawn. It's a delight to see Luke has settled in, and he and Tim are coming together as a couple. Thank you, Josh.

After yesterday's tear-stained keyboard at my work pc, I was relieved to read this coda with a smile. :-) It makes me happy to see that Tim is feeling so positive, secure and optimistic. And I loved the setting...for some reason, I've always been fascinated watching the men in my life shave. I think it started when I was little, watching my grandfather use a shaving brush and shaving soap in a special cup.

Just when I thought that this Sunday couldn't possibly get any lovelier... I found this coda! How wonderful to see that these two are going to face everything the new year will bring their way, together. They have SO deserved to have brand new dreams, brand new chances, brand new challenges, a whole new life together -- full of lovely possibilities and ordinary, fun everyday moments like this one in their coda.

Thank you so much for all these codas, Josh. I have some major difficulties commenting here on your blog right now (due to where I am and the WiFi connection here, I assume) so I just want to send you a warm (literally, LOL) THANK YOU for all the latest ones! :-)

About Me

Josh Lanyon is the author of over sixty titles of classic Male/Male fiction featuring twisty mystery, kickass adventure and unapologetic man-on-man romance.
Her work has been translated into eleven languages. The FBI thriller Fair Game was the first male/male title to be published by Harlequin Mondadori, the largest romance publisher in Italy. Stranger on the Shore (Harper Collins Italia) was the first M/M title to be published in print. In 2016 Fatal Shadows placed #5 in Japan's annual Boy Love novel list (the first and only title by a foreign author to place on the list). The Adrien English Series was awarded All Time Favorite Male Male Couple in the 2nd Annual contest held by the 20,000+ Goodreads M/M Group. Josh is an Eppie Award winner, a four-time Lambda Literary Award finalist (twice for Gay Mystery), and the first ever recipient of the Goodreads Favorite M/M Author Lifetime Achievement award.